How Does This Ayurvedic Food Improve Wellness?

CLINICAL AYURVEDIC REVIEW

The extraordinary powerful taste of stevia is difficult to ignore. The intensity makes your mouth water for a few minutes. Then, tingling sensations arise around the mouth. Your lip quivers.

It's simply unusual and unnatural to find a zero calorie sweetener. But leaves from the stevia plant are both. They are natural and zero calorie.

Stevia is very sweet, up to 150 times the sweetness of sugar. So a little goes a long way. When the sweet taste passes, it leaves a mild, licorice-like aftertaste that's slightly bitter and astringent.

It is light, cold, and sharp because of its intensity. Normally, sweet taste calms and sedates. But stevia is so intense that it has the opposite effect - adding to the quirky character of this unusual herb.

Some people love it. To others, it tastes terrible, almost like a chemical. That's because most stevia powders in the grocery store aren't whole stevia. They are a highly purified extract of stevia known as Reb-A. One student notes, "It lingers, a little like plastic or a foreign substance."

Footnote: The information for this article was in part gathered from a 2019 study and survey of 16 students of Ayurveda who experimented with stevia. During the study, students ate stevia for 3 days and journaled the pharmacological effects. This study was sponsored by the Joyful Belly School of Ayurveda, and specifically the Mastering Ayurvedic Digestion & Nutrition certification course.

What is It?

Stevia is a sweetener and sugar substitute derived from a remarkably sweet plant species called Stevia rebaudiana. It is an aster family plant native to Brazil and Paraguay. There, it has been used for more than 1,500 years by the Guaran? people of South America.

The secret to this zero calorie sweetener is the glucose residues bound to other non-sugar molecules. The glucose residues stimulate taste buds. However the sugary glucosides aren't digestible because they are firmly attached to the non-sugar molecules.

The stevia you buy in the grocery store does not contain the whole leaf, but a purified extract called rebaudioside A (Reb-A). This is because whole stevia hasn't been tested by the FDA. The FDA has tested the extract only. The FDA has approved whole stevia for use as an herbal supplement only. In Japan and Europe the raw stevia leaf has GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status.

Happy Mind

Students reported that stevia lightened their mind and lifted their mood. Stevia's stimulating effects made it easier to concentrate and think. One student even said, "Stevia makes me feel enlightened." Here's what others had to say:

• "I was able to concentrate. I could study better."
• "I had a happy, light feeling in my mind."
• "I felt a whole body sensation - more calm as well."
• "It stimulated my brain. I had lots of creative ideas."
• "It left a cool feeling behind the eyes. I felt peaceful."
• "I felt a wave of lightness on my chest and whole body."

A 2017 study suggests stevia is adaptogenic and a brain tonic. One student testifies to these adaptogenic properties, "I felt sharp, focused, alert. I was excited and joyful. Paradoxically, I also felt grounded, calm, content, and relaxed."

Some students noted stevia was too stimulating, "I noticed that my mind was more restless, very agile and I woke up early twice during the experiment because my mind was so busy." Yet another remarked, "My mind was racing a little. It aggravated my Pitta and induced a hot flash." Another said, "My mind was irritated because it was simply too sweet." We believe this is due to dosha. Kapha individuals felt their spirits lifted, but Vatas and Pittas found it too intense.

Several students drank it with coffee and complained stevia made the coffee more buzzy. "My mind was racing and it irritated my stomach," said one student. We therefore suggest caution in combining stevia with other stimulants.

To get the mental benefits of stevia, students recommended cooking with it instead of making a strong tea. Diluting the stevia in the meal seemed to reduce the intensity.

Buying & Preparation

Stevia is sold in many packages, as a purified extract or whole leaf. It can be in a glycerin base or tinctured in an alcohol base. You can even grow it in your garden. Sold as a powder, it is typically mixed with other substances like dextrose, maltitol, and erythritol to dilute the intensity. Others are blended with inulin and anti-caking agents.

These additives also have effects on your body. For example, dextrose is especially cooling. When one of our students transitioned from whole leaf stevia to stevia extract with erythritol, she got a "massive headache". So, make sure you look on the label.

Herb suppliers will typically sell the whole, unadulterated, dried leaf. Remember, a little goes a long way when using the leaf. The fresh leaf was found to be less bitter as compared to the dried leaf. The purified extract was most bitter. The powdered leaf can become sticky in humid conditions so be sure to seal and keep it dry.

When using the raw leaf, 4 leaves are enough for a gallon of water. For mixed powders sold in grocery stores, 1/8 tsp is enough for a cup of tea.